Grammar school

A grammar school is a type of school in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries. In modern times these schools have provided secondary education, typically from age 11 through 18. Since the tripartite system was introduced after the Second World War, most grammar schools have been funded by the state, though a few have always been private schools.

Traditionally, grammar schools catered for the more academically able students, requiring an examination to be passed (called the "11-plus exam" in Britain) before a pupil can attend. This results in grammar schools generally having much better exam results than other state schools in the area.

Most grammar schools were single-sex, and some still are. They used to be noted for their academic achievements and also for high levels of discipline, achieved in the case of boys' schools by the use of corporal punishment, until caning was outlawed by government in the 1980s.

Following various reorganizations of the UK education system in the 1960s and 1970s, there are now many fewer grammar schools than in the past, most of them having been turned into "comprehensive schools" (open to all students in the area, irrespective of academic ability). A number of grammar schools, not wishing to abandon selective entry, have decided in response to become independent schools, which means they have to charge parents fees or secure some other alternative (e.g. charitable) funding. Some former grammar schools that have now "gone comprehensive" still retain their original names, so that it no longer possible to determine, merely from a school's name, whether it operates a selective admission policy or not.

Many English grammar schools had, and their comprehensive replacements often still have, "Voluntary Aided" status, which means they are funded by the government but partly controlled by a private body - in practice almost always either the Anglican Church or the Roman Catholic Church. This gives them a greater say over the curriculum and especially over the nature of religious instruction and worship at the school.

Grammar schools were first created in the dark ages when it was realised that the art of reading and writing was disappearing.^{[Citation Needed]}

Grammar schools are not favored by the current Labour government because they enable upward social mobility by providing a route into a good education for those who are bright but whose parents cannot afford school fees.